Here Is China's 2020 Mars Rover

The Chinese government has released illustrations of the rover it plans to send to Mars in 2020. The rover is designed to operate for three months, and if the mission is successful, it would make the country's space program the fifth to send an artificial object to the red planet.

The illustrations show that the Chinese team is seeking to scale up their rovers. The new vehicle will be bigger in every way than the Jade Rabbit/Yutu rover that touched down on the Moon in 2013. Weighing 441 pounds compared to Yutu's 310, and carrying six solar panels instead of four, the new rover will be closer in size to the American Curiosity than anything the Chinese space program has delivered before.

An artist's concept of the Chinese Martian rover.

Xinhua

According to Xinhua, the official Chinese state news, the rover will land in a "low-latitude area in the northern hemisphere of Mars," which could explain the increased number of solar panels. The sunlight in this area will not be as plentiful as at the equator, but the rover should have an easier time traversing the terrain. More solar panels could compensate for the loss. The rover will also carry thirteen "payloads including a remote sensing camera and a ground penetrating radar which could be used to study the soil, environment, and atmosphere of Mars, as well as the planet's physical fields, the distribution of water and ice, and its inner structure."

China sees itself in direct competition with India, having already been stung by that country's Mars probe beating them to the red planet. "Although we are not the first Asian nation to send a probe to Mars," says Ye Peijian, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, "we want to start at a higher level." With any luck, the 2020 Chinese rover could work in conjunction with its American counterpart.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Popular Mechanics participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.